Simon Mignolet says this teammate will not stop fighting for his Liverpool future

The Belgian goalkeeper says his compatriot is determined to prove that he still has what it takes to make it at Anfield.

Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has told Belgian TV station Sporza that Christian Benteke has not been deterred by a difficult first season at the club and will continue to fight for his future at Anfield, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo.

Benteke's debut campaign on Merseyside after making a £32.5 million move from Aston Villa last summer has not gone according to plan, with the 25-year-old struggling for goals and form and falling down the pecking order of strikers at the club.

The striker, who has played with compatriot Mignolet for the Belgian national team since the latter's international debut in 2011, has netted just eight times in 35 appearances for the Reds, with just one of those strikes coming in the 16 games he has played in 2016.

His relationship with Jurgen Klopp, who inherited Benteke after Brendan Rodgers had signed him, was already being reported as fraying and the German appeared to publicly rebuke the striker after he missed a golden chance to put Liverpool 3-1 up against Southampton in a game they ultimately lost 3-2 this weekend.

However, Mignolet insists that his club and country teammate has not lost any of his desire to be a success at Anfield and says that he continues to apply himself fully on the training ground.

The goalkeeper told Sporza, as quoted by the Echo: “Everyone knows his qualities.

"When you're a footballer, you want to play in all the matches and it's not easy when you're on the bench [but] he is continuing to work hard at training and for his place. He does his best every day."

Tom Nightingale

After starting to write about football due to lack of any great ability on the pitch, Tom is an NCTJ-qualified sports reporter who has written for Swansea City, the Birmingham Mail, and numerous other publications. An avid Aston Villa fan, he still hasn't got over them not turning up in the 2015 FA Cup final.